Opposition by Fearful Distractions, Part 1

To this point in our study, we have noted that Satan, the Adversary of God and of God’s people, uses a variety of schemes in his attempts to hinder or bring the work of God to a halt -- whether in a person’s life, family or church. Some of these strategies have been opposition by ridicule, by anger, by discouragement (chapter 4), and by division (chapter 5). Satan’s attacks so far have been directed towards the people externally, internally and circumstantially but now they are directed to Nehemiah personally as God’s leader.

Nehemiah 6 reveals another very effective method the devil still uses today. It is indicated by direct statements that are repeated and then is implied with another statement made in our text today--fear. We easily get distracted when we fear and the work of God comes to a halt while we feel paralyzed at times by our fears--a fear of people--what they think of us, say to us, might do to us; fear of circumstances-- "What happens if_______”; or the fear of being able to discharge the duties we are called upon to perform--“Can I really pull this off? I have never done this before….”, etc. Fear can be a real serious distraction!

If we would successfully complete the work God has given us to do, we must handle fearful distractions the way Nehemiah did. Otherwise we will fall for this trick of the devil and get distracted from doing the job God wants done.